2019 Silver Screen Riot Awards

It’s that time of year where awards start getting slung left and right, where the same names begin to crop up over and over, and bloggers get tired of the awards dance and prognostication before it’s even really begun in earnest. As is tradition over here, we try to shed light on the best of the year, and not just those popular names on cycle wash with the Silver Screen Riot Awards, recognizing perhaps not the objective best (because there is no such thing) but my personal favorites from the year. And the award goes to… Read More

‘UNDERWATER’ is Peak Incoherent January Hollywood Flotsam

January 9, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Cozad, Brian Duffield, John Gallagher Jr. Jessica Henwick, Kristen Stewart, Out in Theaters, Reviews, T.J. Miller, Underwater, Vincent Cassel, William Eubank Leave a comment

The first month of every year may start with resolutions about self-improvement, working out more, sleeping more, eating better and the like, and yet the new offerings at the movie cineplexes are more reliably junky than any other time of year. Underwater is peak January movie; a bungled poof of a plot, shoddy direction, feckless characters, unimpressive production work. It’s movie empty carbs, devoid of any nutritional value or artistic takeaway. The kind of movie you can throw in the pile with the other countless shameless impressions of Alien (alongside 2017’s super lame Life) that fundamentally misunderstands what makes that movie oh-so-great. Read More

Latest Trailer for Long-Delayed ‘X-MEN: NEW MUTANTS’ Merges Superheroes and Horror

January 6, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Trailers Tagged Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Josh Boone, Maisie Williams, Trailers, X-Men, X-Men: New Mutants Leave a comment

After five long years in development hell and a series of reshuffled release dates, including rumors that the finished product may be regelated to a streaming service dump or never even see the light of day, the latest look at X-Men: New Mutants promises not only an April 2, 2020 release date but an actual theatrical release. The capstone X-Men film has been the talk of a lot of controversy, with one big part of the discussion centering around extensive, narrative-altering reshoots and X-Men: New Mutants being caught out in the cold in the midst of the Disney-Fox merger. Despite all the goings-on behind the scenes, today we finally get a new look at X-Men: New Mutants and it looks, well, just as potential-ridden as ever. Read More

The Top Ten Films of 2019

December 19, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists, Most Popular Tagged Ad Astra, Climax, Her Smell, In Fabric, Midsommar, Parasite, The Lighthouse, Top Ten, Uncut Gems, Us, Waves Leave a comment

One hundred and fifty. That’s the final tally for new release movies I’ve seen this year as of writing this here article. The shot clock is up. The endpoint to officially putting my selection for the top ten films of 2019 is kaput. The decision is written into stone. Out into the ether. That means I had to give the old Thanos snap to 140 movies in the process and this year’s selection sumo-wrestling was just as painstaking and awful as any other. The things I do for clicks. ‘Twas a fine year for film with a smattering of highlights, from magic rock dramas to alligator horror, anime blockbusters to feminist comedy, with critical darlings and box office hits often coming from the least expected of corners. Oh and Disney cleaning up at the bank per usual. Read More

Agoraphobic Amy Adams Sees Neighbor Knifed in ‘THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW’ Trailer

December 19, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Trailers Tagged Amy Adams, Joe Wright, The Woman in the Window Leave a comment

Initially set to release in October of this year, Joe Wright’s The Woman in the Window was pushed in the midst of the Disney-Fox merger but now we finally have a first look at the psychological thriller and it looks, as expected, like a Joe Wright-directed psychological thriller. Based on the novel of the same name from A.J. Finn, The Woman in the Window stars Amy Adams as an agoraphobic developmental psychologist who witnesses the murder of her neighbor, or so she thinks. Read More

‘STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER’ Blindly Resurrects the Past To Finish The Saga

December 18, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Carrie Fisher, Chris Terrio, Daisy Ridley, Harrison Ford, J.J. Abrams, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, Oscar Isaac, Star Wars, Star Wars IX, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Leave a comment

If the central tenet of Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi was to kill the past to make way for the future, The Rise of Skywalker is all about bringing the dead back to life. After the divisive middle entry to this new Disney-helmed trilogy, The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams was tasked with the Herculean feat of pleasing both the fans and detractors of The Last Jedi and with The Rise of Skywalker decides to just lean into resurrecting and regurgitating the past as much as possible, much like he did his first time out. The most obvious example of this comes in the form of our old pal Sheev, the Senator-turned-Supreme-Chancellor-turned-Emperor, whose appearance was teased to fans from the very first trailer, and his handling is a microcosm of the film’s issues writ large. Read More

FYC Capsule Review: ‘JUST MERCY’

December 17, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Brie Larson, Destin Daniel Cretton, Jamie Foxx, Just Mercy, Michael B. Jordan, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Tim Blake Nelson Leave a comment

A punched-up Lifetime movie with a laudable cast, Destin Daniel Cretton’s Just Mercy is a courtroom procedural where the message burns brighter than the filmmaking. A predictable affair with limited emotional stopping power, and one that plays by a very familiar rulebook, the third film from the Short Term 12 filmmaker follows a young civil rights defense lawyer played decently by Michael B. Jordan (who may have been a bit miscast here) who comes to the defense of convicted felons on Alabama’s death row. Just Mercy struggles to connect by virtue of its uninspired path-following nature, the movie cruising along on autopilot without ever really justifying what makes this particular story work as a feature film. This kind of filmmaking flourished in the 90s but just feels out of place and rearview mirror-y in 2019. Strong performances from Jamie Foxx and Tim Blake Nelson make the film almost worthwhile, though starlet Brie Larson has little more than a nothing role. All and all, Just Mercy is just meh. (C) Read More

Seattle Film Critics Society Deservingly Awards ‘PARASITE’ Best Picture, ‘UNCUT GEMS’ Takes Two Awards

December 16, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Awards Tagged Awards, Seattle Film Critics Society, SFCS Leave a comment

“PARASITE” NAMED BEST PICTURE OF 2019 BY SEATTLE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY

Seattle, WA – The Seattle Film Critics Society (“SFCS”) announced the winners in 20 categories for the 2019 Seattle Film Critics Society Awards on Monday, December 16, 2019.

Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite proved the big winner this year, landing five awards, including Best Picture of the Year. The South Korean film, which takes a multi-layered look at class and greed in modern-day society, also earned Bong the Best Director award and Best Screenplay, which he shares with co-writer Han Jin-won. Parasite was also named Best Foreign Language Film and the film’s ensemble was honored with the Best Ensemble Cast award. Read More

Tom Cruise is Back to Train the Rookies in ‘TOP GUN: MAVERICK’ Trailer

December 16, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Trailers Tagged Joseph Kosinski, tom cruise, Top Gun: Maverick, Trailers Leave a comment

Of course, Tom Cruise is going to space in the latest trailer for Top Gun: Maverick. Or at least that’s what the final shot strongly implies. Already one of the most anticipated movies of 2020, Top Gun: Maverick returns to the world of the U.S. Air Force and dog fights that Tony Scott popularized in the original 1986 blockbuster, bringing Cruise back into the fold to teach the next generation of pilots. The latest look gives us a clearer idea of what the long-awaited sequel will be about though the trailer is thankfully light on spoilers.

Top Gun: Maverick is directed by Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion, Only the Brave) and co-stars Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Ed Harris, and Miles Teller with Cruise returning as the titular character and Val Kilmer set to appear as Iceman. Read More

Stunningly Mounted ‘1917’ A Towering Technical Achievement

December 11, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Krysty Wilson-Cairns, Mark Strong, Richard Madden, Roger Deakins, Sam Mendes Leave a comment

Just when you think that there is no new angle for a war movie, English tag-team director Sam Mendes and cinematographer Roger Deakins come and shake the whole thing up. Deakins, who has shot such remarkable-looking films as Blade Runner 2049, Fargo, Skyfall, Sicario, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and No Country for Old Men among literal countless others, commands the aura of a film in a way that few other cinematographers can and paired with Mendes’ seamless one-take presentation of this WWI epic, 1917 amounts to a striking piece of capital C cinema, and one that presents a unique ground-level take on war. Set against countless wowing technical merits, the WWI epic recounts a powerful personal journey through a hellish war-scape that will leave audiences gasping for breath. Read More